Important alerts

You are here:

Fly tipping court case is a ‘coo’ for Barnsley Council

03 August 2018

A Barnsley man has received a heavy fine for a fly tipping offence following an appearance at Barnsley Magistrates Court on Thursday 2 August 2018.

Alexander Cunliffe of Cherrys Road, Barnsley pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 after being caught on CCTV fly tipping pigeon excrement in Wombwell Woods in May of this year.

Mr Cunliffe visited a local household waste recycling centre where he was advised to bag up the waste so that it could be legally disposed of. Instead, he chose not to follow advice and to dump the waste as illegal fly tipping.

Barnsley Council’s enforcement team used their delegated powers to seize the vehicle used while the investigation was carried out. CCTV footage used for the prosecution case can be viewed on the council's YouTube channel here.

In court, magistrates told Mr Cunliffe that fly tipping is a serious matter and only the fact he was of previous good character saved him from losing his vehicle and driving licence.

Mr Cunliffe was fined £480 and a victim surcharge of £48. He was also ordered to pay costs of £953.88 to cover investigation time, recovery and storage of his vehicle, legal costs and £50 compensation to clear up the waste, totalling £1531.88.

Cllr Jenny Platts, Cabinet Spokesperson for Communities, said: “Thanks to our enforcement team, we’ve successfully used CCTV footage to identify the culprit and seize his vehicle ahead of pursuing this court prosecution. This result is great news and sends a message to anyone thinking about fly tipping in Barnsley – it will not be tolerated.

“As part of our #EverybodyThink campaign to protect the environment we’ll continue to use social media to share video evidence. We encourage people to share our posts as a warning to the minority of people who think this behaviour is acceptable – together we can tackle fly tipping.”

To find out more about the work the council is doing to reduce environmental crime and increase recycling, visit facebook.com/DumpitandScarper or follow the hashtag #EverybodyThink.